Order Rejecting M2Z Application Clears Commission
The FCC was poised at our deadline Friday to reject M2Z’s petition for forbearance, ending that company’s pursuit of 2.1 GHz spectrum to build a free, nationwide wireless broadband network without auction. A rulemaking on an auction for the spectrum is expected within days. The sale will be the third in a series of advanced wireless services (AWS) auctions.
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The FCC also will reject rival applications for the spectrum by NetfreeUS, NextWave, Open Range, TowerStream, McElroy Electronics and Commnet.
The FCC had hoped for concurrent release of the order rejecting M2Z’s proposal and the NPRM, but late filings by M2Z created confusion among agency staffers as the process was ending, sources said. The order makes clear that the slow speed of the free offering, under 200 kbps, was considered a mark against the plan.
M2Z’s proposal got considerable FCC attention, coming as it did with a large number of endorsements. M2Z, fronted by former Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta and backed by Silicon Valley investors, says on its website that it has gotten $500 million in financial commitments to build a network.
In a late filing, M2Z voiced willingness to address Public Interest Spectrum Coalition concerns that it offer the spectrum on a truly open platform. M2Z cited “our commitment to a meaningful, nondiscriminatory wholesale offering in the spectrum band for which we seek a license, and our commitment to operate the network on an ‘open devices’ platform.”
Meanwhile, three public safety groups told the FCC in a letter that they have reached no decisions about whether a nationwide M2Z offering could help first responder communications. “We do believe the proposal could provide a secondary broadband IP network to the public safety community and do so without using any public funds and at a very low cost,” said a letter from the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. “Such a network could supplement the primary 700 MHz public safety broadband network that the Commission recently addressed in another proceeding. Thus, there would appear to be merit to considering the M2Z proposal, at least from our perspective.”